Thread: Homegrown (saponification)

Hey y'all, I've had a few requests for "my" soap recipe which is actually what Ian suggested. Here's a copy of my most recent response to a PM on the subject. I think it'll pass muster here in the wide open.

This is about using salts and acids and heat for a chemical reaction to make soap. I'm no expert, but I have made a few batches of soap the Foxfire way. I made one batch of the following recipe and am pleased as punch with it. I'll make another when this runs out in a few years. HTH those of you who want to make not mix. Until then:


Well, the thing is, every time i start talking about "making soap" one guy gets it, but ten more want to talk about mixing/pouring or other non-saponification topics. So i quit trying.

Now, i haven't tried any of the expensive soaps/creams of late (ever actually, used Wms and Colgate for the previous 20 years). But I did get some Arko recently and while it lathers up very easily, it's very dry compared to my soap.

One of the biggest differences in mine and in any "shave soap" recipe you'll ever find online is that i was taught to "split the salts". That means to not use all KOH nor all NaOH, but to use part one and part the other. No calculators are set up this way so one must divide his fats and calculate for each portion. [correction: see second post this thread for calculator that does splits]

Still with me? The reason is that one of them (i don't recall without looking) makes the soap softer/lather easier, the other makes it more durable. I think i'm going a teeny bit, 5 or 10% more to the soft side next time. Your needs here will vary by your exact fats you use and the water you lather with. Make it soft enough...boom, you have a cream.

Also, I didn't put bentonite clay in my batch, but have since mixed some in by melting the soap-one puck at a time. The soap lathers nicely and the clay gives it better slickeryness. I used left-over industrial clay for sealing up around well casings.

I'll have to dig around a bit for the recipe. I used deer tallow, but sheep or beef or lard will work. I like to have a reason to use as much of the deer i kill as possible. I don't think you'll get deer tallow any other way.

Also I ordered KOH, NaOH, as well as stearic acid online. I think all fats are "fatty acids" but i'm no chemist. Castor oil came from local store.

The thing is, you're balancing the contributions of each of these fats against each other to get the soap you want. There are charts out there listing the properties that each fat contributes to a soap, such as lather, durability, cleaning, etc. A proper shave soap is practically useless for cleaning-it's all about lasting lather and slickery for me.

Dangit...must be on my laptop. The funny part is that dude that i got my recipe from is banned here and i'm banned at B&B...which is where i found him. We used email.

Oh wait, a quick web search and i found me being real testy at B&B (i was having an ADD-moment of frustration where i was all focused on soap making and finding no good answers) Here's an excerpt (from my ranting) which gives Ian's recipe:

My NEXT RECIPE is Tallow(beef/deer)/Stearic Acid/Castor Oil (55/23/22-ish percentages) with 60/40 KOH/NaOH (i'm not sure if i'll use the clay again or not-but it's a non-reactive agent). Ian suggested this and can better explain the choices of those fats wrt the specific fatty acids and the properties they contribute to the shaving lather and also he has noted more than once that NaOH "makes for a poor lather".

Now i don't know how much clay to put into it %-wise, but i'm using around 1/4 teaspoon to a "puck"*. Try that, and be safe about it.

Read and heed general soap-making safety measures!
Respect the process, don't fear it.

If you are goofy, careless, or accident-prone**, then just BUY the good stuff and forget chemistry.

*I simply heated the mug and puck until it was soft enough to blend in the clay.
**nothing wrong with that, we are all wired differently, just recognize it and reduce risks at every opportunity.


WP

Also, there are 1000 places to learn the basics of making soap. I'm not going into that. This is about putting the right salts and fats together in the right proportions to make a proper shave-lather soap. One can tweak the recipe to suit his own needs/desires/notions and water requirements.

This SoapCalc does do splits.

Jonathan

Very informative and well written, Wade. I do the same thing with the bentonite clay and some homemade eucalyptus soaps that my barber makes up just for me. IMO it is the best soap that I have ever used.

I would love to do my own stuff but I am traveling about 95% of the time. If I ever get the time and a place to do it this article will be a great reference point, many thanks.